Quest for Fire

We all know that the world is currently riddled with numerous problems like wars, terrorism, environmental degradation and scarcity of resources. I still, however, consider myself lucky to be born in this modern scientific age because we can laugh, play and think freely; in other words, we can live. Would we have fared better if we had been born 80,000 years ago when there were no wars, no environmental problems and abundance of resources?

I recently saw the 1981 motion picture Quest for Fire (based on the French novel La Guerre du Feu, written by J.H. Rosny aîné in 1909) that helped me to answer this question. The movie depicts the life of humans present on this planet about 80,000 years ago. It is shown that both the Neanderthal man (homo neanderthalensis) and Humans (homo sapiens) coexisted during that time. The sole objective of all the human tribes was survival, which meant the possession of ‘fire’. The movie provides insight into the life of Neanderthal man and the problems he faced due to the lack of knowledge of creating fire. Different human tribes attacked each other to obtain fire, which saved them from becoming ready meals for animals.

The movie effectively shows the difference between surviving and living. Without the knowledge of creating fire, humans perpetually lived in fear (of losing it) and thus could not think beyond surviving. The first time humans looked beyond surviving was when they learned the art of creating fire. This opened innumerable possibilities to actually use their brain and make discoveries. One of the most startling discoveries they made was ‘humor’ and ‘laughter’ apart from the realization of the feeling of love over and beyond just a mating exercise.

The movie does not have dialogues in any modern language. The prehistoric humans speak an invented language instead, developed by the zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris. This language (a combination of signs and speech) along with the natural setting was one of the high points of the film.